“[W]hat country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms.” — Letter to William Stephens Smith, November 13, 1787; The Works of Thomas Jefferson, Federal Edition (New York and London, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904–5) Vol. 5

These debates have been raging since the dawn of the United States. The second amendment was put in place because of a belief in natural rights. A part of those natural rights is self-defense (which allows autonomy, which allows personal liberty). Given that the founders had just fought a war against a tyrannical government, it was understood that the provision of this amendment was to help guard against tyranny later, where tyranny is the restriction of the other natural rights.

They also believed no person should raise a rebellion against a lawful government, because such a person is likely to be a tyrant themselves. However, they had strict standards by which they deemed a government lawful versus unlawful.

Now might also be a good time to point out that people are allowed to own tanks in the United States.

For the most part, the constitution exists to restrict the government from attempting to inhibit natural rights. If the government attempted to inhibit them, the philosophers of that time believed that the people had those rights regardless, and that the government was then unlawful. The main disagreement in twenty-fifteen is over what is necessary to keep those rights protected, and the likelihood of the government actually attempting to inhibit those natural rights. Given how much public debate and protest now occurs online, as opposed to physical public spaces, there is actually more power given to corporations to significantly restrict freedom of speech and freedom of press than what the government has.

My post is not intended to be pro or against. I just feel strongly that the level of debate has degenerated significantly to the level of Yahoo! News comments, and this derives from people forgetting, ignoring, or excluding the driving philosophies present at the time the United States was founded.